Cycling - NLC

[C7Steve]

MTFU

Steve

[graeme]

First of all, why are you considering a Cycle Trainer at this time of year when the weather has been so good?

A most fair question.

Compare:

"Hello wife and small human child! I'm home from down t'pit... and going straight out on the bike."

vs.

"Hello wife and small human child! I'm home from down t'pit... I'll be in the garage for an hour if you need me."

This is a preemptive purchase, so I can escape and get a few miles without actually being far from where I need to be.

Ta for the links! Done the internet review Googling thing, but was hoping for some personal experience as cheapest to priciest is quite a gap, and I've never even used one, and I hate buying twice!

Cheers,

[C7Steve]

Since its your first buy, I would say go for the Tacx one. You have to be really motivated to use one of these for any length of time inside and you could always sell it on if its not getting used. iPod helps immensely.

I understand what your saying about being close by, but you don't have to go far (i.e. out and back) you can just do loops close to home and take your phone. Trust me, it's much much better to train outside in all conditions. Just tell yourself that you will get your gear on and go out for ten minutes and you will be surprised 99% of the time you will stay out. You also get the psychological advantage knowing that you are out training while others are watching television.

Steve.

[PhilA]

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kur ... r-ec029825

this ^^

i have it... and does indeed rock

[graeme]

So it bloody should at that money...

[jen]

Or....buy a baby seat for the bike and three of you go out together. Doesn't help much at the start when the baby is only a few months old though. But maybe a better long term plan of action?

[ryallm]

Rule number 9.

What's rule 1-8?

Steve.

Probably already referenced here before, but:

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

When I was riding up a particularly brutal climb in the Alps a couple of weeks back (Col De Forclaz from the south, 17% in places, in 30C heat), I kept reminding myself of the most important rule of them all, #5, otherwise known as THE V . HTFU

Reading the Velominati book of The Rules at the moment and it is very amusing.

[Gareth]

Upgrades....
Posted on a bike forum but no responses.
I've had my focus Cayo 1.0 for just over a year now.
It's stock and seen a decent amount of miles - 164miles this weekend alone.

Those of you that know me will know...I'm all the gear; nae idea but I fancy upgrading or changing.
Unfortunately, I can't quite justify £5k on a new bike.
Di2 is quite expensive around £1100. Guess a decent set of clinchers is £650. Carbon bars, stem, seat post and new saddle all help the diet.

My question, are these upgrades throwing good money after bad in the sense my frame might not be the best platform?
Reading the tinternet the Focus gets positive reviews in terms of weight.

Tia
G.

[Dark]

The Cayo is a good frame, the new Cayo Evo is even better!

What wheels are on the bike? For ~£300 you can pick up a set of Shimano RS80 wheels (1500g / pair, same rim as the Dura Ace C24s) which together with a set of decent tyres will probably save you 0.5kg compared to the OEM Focus items (assuming they are the usual Concept branded ones). They will make a huge difference going up hill and are also quite aero for the down hills and flats. Remember it's rotating mass (wheels, crank, pedals, etc) that has the most effect on acceleration and to go up hill at a fixed speed you're effectively constantly accelerating!

I wouldn't bother with carbon bars, too difficult to tell if you've damaged them dropping the bike, it doesn't take much.
You might save a bit of weight with a new seat post & stem but unless you're a 65kg climbing whippet you won't notice much difference.

Wheels, wheels, wheels......

Mark

PS: I've just fitted a set of Shimano C35s to my Cayo Evo 1.0 and it's awesome even compared to the set of Mavic Ksyrium Elites I had before!

[Mr Momo]

Wheels, wheels, wheels.

I got a set of Mavics for the summer and chuck the DT Swiss R1850s on for the winter.

New tyres and wheels (Conti GP4000s) saved 0.5kg alone.

[Gareth]

The Cayo is a good frame, the new Cayo Evo is even better!

What wheels are on the bike? For ~£300 you can pick up a set of Shimano RS80 wheels!

Or deeper dish: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WPS ... r_wheelset
Guess more of a problem with cross winds but what are better?

[ryallm]

Finally got round to ordering the new road bike I've been promising myself for ages and it is a bit of a mega machine. 2014 Bianchi Infinito CV (as ridden by the Vacansoleil-DCM team on some stages of in this year's TDF), Ultegra Di Groupo. I have big cycling plans for next year including cycling the Haute Route from Geneva to Nice so I needed the right tool for the job There now follows an agonising wait of 2 to 3 months while some bloke in an Italian factory gets round to building it....

Mark

[Dark]

The deep section wheels look amazing but it depends what sort of rider you are and what sort of riding you do.

I tried both the Mavic Cosmic Carbonne SLs (50mm) and Fast Forward FR6s (58mm) over the summer. Both are heavy (1800g/pair).
I didn't like the Mavics at all. They are just an alloy rim with a carbon fairing. They felt sluggish up the hills, slow on the flats and terrible in cross winds.
The Fast Forwards were much better, very fast on the flats and really stiff so they still accelerated quite well up hill. However hard work to turn into corners especially on tight mountain descents and very susceptible to cross winds.

The RS80 C50s are a similar weight to the above. If you're a heavier rider and don't do many hills then they might be fine. Did I mention they look amazing!

In the end I went for a pair of Dura Ace C35s. Lightweight (1450g/pair) but also an aero profile. They are really fast and climb really well but to my surprise you still get blown around quite a lot in cross winds. I'm about 73kg and downhill in a cross wind you need to be quite alert. They have just released an RS81 C35 which has the same rim but a cheaper hub, however still heavy at ~1800g/pair.

[Gareth]

I'm 80kg and find if I was better at one thing over the other it was climbing over flat.
I think I'm leaning on upgrading a couple of things this year and change my bike next year.

[Doc883]

I recently bought a Giant Defy Composite 2 and I quite fancy adding some decent wheels so am readng this topic with interest
At the moment I am veering towards Planet X as they seem to offer tbe best compromise of performance/price at my budget where I only want to spend circa £500 plus the cost of tyres etc. I'm a relative lightweight at 64kg so slightly concerned that some of these deep carbon rims could see me in the verge on a blustery Scottish morning
The other question is Clinchers v Tubular. My local bike shop, Pedal Power in West Calder, were advising me to go for Tubs but having only ever ridden clinchers before I'd need to research this a bit more. Anybody using tubulars ?